Anybody who loves “The Office” surely knows about the show’s fantastic opening scenes. They’re sharp, funny, and always well punctuated. I recently rewatched most of the series and after a while, I started to pay closer attention to these scenes in an attempt to learn something from them. In doing so, I began to keep track of my favorite cold opens from the show, categorize and rank them, and think about how and why they work so well.

I’ve broken my ranked list into three categories: My all-time favorites (or what I consider to be the “best” ones from a writer’s perspective), my favorite Jim and Dwight pranks, and some honorable mentions. Without further ado, here’s what I came up with.

My All-Time Favorite “Office” Opening Scenes

1. Fire In The Office (Season 5, Episode 14 “Stress Relief: Pt. 1”)
2. The DVD Logo Hits The Corner of The TV Screen (Season 4, Episode 3 “Launch Party”)
3. The Office Tricks Michael Into Thinking It’s 5:00PM (Season 5, Episode 28 “Company Picnic”)
4. Michael Shouts ‘Nooo’ When Toby Returns (Season 5, Episode 9 “Frame Toby”)
5. Stanley Doesn’t Notice Anything (Season 7, Episode 6 “Costume Contest”)

The thing I love most about a great cold open is how it functions as a story all its own, independent from the rest of the episode. I think that’s what truly makes these scenes so impactful, memorable, and effective. Some of these opening scenes manage to condense what could quite reasonably have been the plot for an entire episode (or at least a solid B plot) into a single scene.

Take my number one selection, Fire In The Office, as an example. The story of Dwight wishing to teach his co-workers a lesson in safety preparedness by staging an actual fire strikes me as exactly the type of plot The Office would do for an entire episode. However, that premise would have made for a vastly less satisfying episode than it did a cold open. That scene runs almost five minutes long, far longer than most opening scenes in the show, and functions almost like a short film. There’s a setup, a climax, and a conclusion. The story is as long as the scene is. It doesn’t need to be any longer than it is, and if it were, it would only be weakened.

This is a major reason why I’ve separated my picks into a couple of categories. These five represent the ones I feel to be the “best” at telling a contained story. Not all of them, such as the DVD logo hitting the corner of the television screen, could reasonably function as plots for an entire episode, but all of them tell concise stories unto themselves. I deem that these type of openings are of a different variety or breed than the amazingly hilarious ones where Jim pranks Dwight.

My Favorite Pranks Jim Pulls On Dwight

1. Impersonating Dwight (Season 3, Episode 20 “Product Recall”)
2. Jim Sends Dwight Faxes From The Future (Season 3, Episode 7 “Branch Closing”)
3. Altoid Training (Season 3, Episode 15 “Phyllis’ Wedding”)
4. Asian Jim (Season 9, Episode 3 “Andy’s Ancestry”)
5. Jim Frames Dwight For His Murder (Season 8, Episode 15 “Tallahassee”)

Like those on my first list, these openings also tell contained stories before the title sequence. To me, though, these ones function more as jokes than as stories. These pranks are all truly brilliant and a main attraction of the show, but I feel they hold a slightly different resonance in terms of writing.

Honorable Mentions

There are honestly so many great ones, I thought I’d share a few more of my favorites that didn’t quite make the “best ever” list.

1. Their “Nobody” Lip Sync Music Video (Season 7, Episode 1 “Nepotism”)
2. Creed as Regional Manager (Season 7, Episode 25 “Search Committee Pt. 1”)
3. Everyone Tries To Get Phyllis to Say Rain Cliches (Season 8, Episode 21 “Angry Andy”)
4. Does Stanley Have A Mustache? (Season 8, Episode 20 “Welcome Party”)
5. Michael Is Terribly Wrong About The IT Guy (Season 2, Episode 9 “Email Surveillance”)
6. Kevin’s Famous Chili (Season 5, Episode 26 “Casual Friday”)
7. Vomit Chain Reaction (Season 6, Episode 4 “Niagara: Pt. 1”)
8. KBG Knock-Knock Joke (Season 5, Episode 19 “Golden Ticket”)
9. Michael Tries To Figure Out The “Up Dog” Joke (Season 2, Episode 13 “The Secret”)
10. The Quiet Game (Season 8, Episode 11 “Trivia”)

Why Do These Scenes Work So Well?

The thing I love most about a great cold open is how it functions as a story all its own, independent from the rest of the episode. I think that’s what truly makes these scenes so impactful, memorable, and effective. Some of these opening scenes manage to condense what could quite reasonably have been the plot for an entire episode (or at least a solid B plot) into a single scene.

Take my number one selection, Fire In The Office, as an example. The story of Dwight wishing to teach his co-workers a lesson in safety preparedness by staging an actual fire strikes me as exactly the type of plot The Office would do for an entire episode. However, that premise would have made for a vastly less satisfying episode than it did a cold open. That scene runs almost five minutes long, far longer than most opening scenes in the show, and functions almost like a short film. There’s a setup, a climax, and a conclusion. The story is as long as the scene is. It doesn’t need to be any longer than it is, and if it were, it would only be weakened.

A second

Other Shows (and Genres) That Have Great Opening Scenes

Of course, The Office isn’t the only show to feature fantastic opening scenes. If anything, it’s merely one example in an ocean of great shows to use this technique. Part of the reason I interchange the terms “cold open” and “opening scene” is because a cold open is most often associated with comedy. However, great opening scenes are prevalent in the work of drama as well.

In recent years, perhaps some of the greatest opening scenes in television have come from dramatic shows such as Breaking Bad, Lost, and Game of Thrones. That’s just to name a few. A great opening scene doesn’t have to be funny. Although, many of them that aren’t funny still unfold with the timing of a well-told joke. There’s a setup or a premise, then an action, then some sort of climax or punchline. In the case of television, this climax or punchline is usually what launches us into the title sequence, and then into the episode.

I think most opening scenes come in two primary flavors: those that function as independent, stand-alone stories and those that function as setups for the plot of the episode. The latter option can often be categorized by featuring a cliffhanger at the end which leads us into the episode.

Both of these scene types are incredibly smart in terms of writing. That’s why I believe so much can be learned about how to write a strong scene – be it for a sitcom cold open or for a dramatic feature film script – from these scenes in “The Office”. Yes, they’re entertaining, funny, and pretty ridiculous most of the time, but they offer impressive insight into writing crisp, sharp, dynamic scenes.

Conclusion

No, “The Office” isn’t one of the most hard-hitting, impressive works of drama in television. However, I think its hilarious opening scenes provide great insight into how we should write the beginning of any story: enter as late as possible, exit as early as possible, and tell a contained story that either leaves the viewer satisfied, wanting more, or both.